Rodgers was youth team manager when Cole first arrived at Chelsea and that, says Cole, enabled him to get to know him better than if he had just signed him.

“The relationship changes when he is picking you or not picking you – so I talked football with him many times at Chelsea,” revealed Cole to the Daily Express.

“He used to talk about how he went over to Bilbao and to Barcelona and studied their style of play and you can see how he has incorporated that into how Liverpool play. A lot of what we are seeing now is Brendan’s methodology and things he has been practising for years before he went to Anfield.

“We are quick to write players off but he can see the improvement in players. Jordan Henderson was 21 or 22 and you heard that stupid phrase, ‘He isn’t a Liverpool player’.

“But he has been brilliant this year. He has developed and he has learnt. He has only got better and the sky’s the limit for him.

“Working with a good coach whatever age you are can improve you. Look at Raheem Sterling and Joe Allen this season, and I think I have heard Steven Gerrard say he has added a few strings to his bow.”